Refrigerator track and drawer construction



Aug. 18, 1953 M. ROTHCHILD REFRIGERATOR TRACK AND DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Filed June 15, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Morris R0 M chi/d Fig.

4 INVENTOR.

BY mm Aug. 18, 1953 M. ROTHCHILD REFRIGERATOR TRACK AND DRAWER CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 15, 1950 Fig. 2

m hT m ME I V 0 m a f R f 0 Z M M Y B Patented Aug. 18, 195?;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR TRACK AND DRAWER CONSTRUCTION This invention relates to new and useful improvements in extensible tracks and the primary object of the present invention is to provide a storage drawer for refrigerators together. with a novel and improved sliding track for the drawer so that the drawer may be quickly and readily extended from a refrigerator for access to the contents of the drawer in a convenient manner.

Another'important object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator track, a tray or drawer slidably supported on the track and means for locking or retaining the tray on the track to prevent accidental tipping or raising of the tray.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator track and drawer construction that is quickly and readily applied to or removed from the inner walls of practically all types of refrigerators without harmfully affecting the refrigerator or the capacity of the refrigerators storage space.

A still further aim of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator track and drawer construction that is simple and practical in construction, strong and reliable in use, neat and attractive in appearance, inexpensive to manufacture, install and service, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended. 1

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a refrigerator, the door being open, and showing the present invention mounted within the refrigerator;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane of section line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane of section line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of Figure 3 but showing the retaining means moved to permit lifting of the tray from the guide tracks;

Figure 6 is a plan view of one of the trays used in conjunction with the present invention;

Figure 7 is a reduced view of Figure 4 and showing the guide tracks and tray extended from. the refrigerator;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of the guide tracks used in the present invention and Figure 9 is a perspective view of the retaining means, in slightly modified form, applied to a wire tray.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein, for the purpose of illustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the numeral H1 represents a refrigerator having inner vertical side walls l2 and M on which there is mounted a plurality of horizontally disposed bolts or fasteners l6 and I8. Guide rollers 20 and 22 are rotatably supported upon the bolts l6 and [8. The guide rollers 29 and 22 are provided with peripheral grooves, as shown best in Figures 3 and 5 of the drawings.

The rollers 20 and 22 are so arranged as to slidably support a pair of horizontally disposed, hollow, substantially rectangular side members or guides 24 and 26. The outer side walls of the guide tracks 24 and 26 are provided with elongated horizontal slots 28, and the edges defining these slots are slidably received in the peripheral grooves in the guide rollers.

Upstanding stop ears 30 and. 32 are provided on the lower wall of each guide track for engaging the guide rollers to limit sliding movement of the tracks into and out of the refrigerator. The ears 30 are slightly higher than the ears 32 so that the ears 3!! will engage the forwardmost of the guide rollers, whereas the ears 32 will clear the rollers to permit removal of the guide tracks from the rollers. However, since the ears 32 aid in arresting forward sliding movement of the guide tracks they are also referred to as stop ears.

An upper pair of ears 34 and 36 are provided at the ends of the upper wall of each guide track. The ears 34 rise from the upper walls of the guide tracks whereas the ears 36 depend from the upper walls of the guide tracks and. pivotally support latch plates 38 having finger grips 40. The latch plates 38 ride against the ears 32; therefore, out- Ward sliding movement of the tracks is limited, since the plates 38 will engage the innermost of the guide rollers and the ears 32 function with the plates 38 to reinforce and strengthen the plates 38.

A drawer or tray 42 is associated with each pair of guide tracks. The tray includes a reduced lower portion 44 that is received between the guide tracks, as shown in Figures 3 and 5. The tray is also provided with horizontal ledges 46 having vertical openings 48. Anti-friction members or rollers 50 are rotatably supported on the ledges 46 and project downwardly through the openings 48 to track upon the upper walls of the guide tracks.

The distance between the inner walls of the guide tracks is substantially equal to the distance between the side walls of the lower portion 44 to prevent lateral movement of the tray relative to the guide tracks.

Means is provided for looking or retaining the tray on the guide tracks. This means comprises a pair of horizontally movable slides 52 carried by guide ears 54 on the rear wall of the tray. The slides 52 support horizontal rollers 56 that are slidably received in apertures in the side walls of the lower portion 44 below the lower walls of the guide tracks,

Hand levers 53 are slidably and pivotally mounted on horizontal pins 61 carried by the rear wall of the tray and are pivoted at their lower ends to the slides 52 so that when the levers are lowered, the rollers 56 are retracted as shown in Figure 5, whereas a raising of the levers will move the rollers 56 and the slides 52 laterally of the guide tracks and the rollers 56 will underlie the guide tracks as shown in Figure 3, thereby preventing the tray from tipping or from being lifted off the guide tracks.

The tray 92 is provided with a transparent forward wall 90 so that the contents of the tray may be easily observed without having to pull the tray from the refrigerator. Also, the upper edge of the wall 69 is provided with a finger-receiving recess 62 whereby the tray may be readily withdrawn from the refrigerator. The trays bottom wall is preferably provided with slots 64 to permit cool air to circulate Within the tray.

Any suitable number of trays are mounted within the refrigerator as shown in Figure 1 and each tray is supported upon guide tracks, and rollers as previously described.

The trays may be constructed of wire W, as shown in Figure 9, and the looking or retaining means may assume the form of plates i9 having upper and lower ears 72 and 74 struck therefrom for slidably supporting horizontal slides 16 havingfinger grips 1'8. Rollers 80 mounted on the slides 76 are movable beneath the guide tracks similar to the rollers 56.

In practical use of the present invention, either all metallic trays 42 or wire trays W or any suitable number of trays 32 and W may be employed. When the trays are pulled forwardly, the tracks do not slide forwardly until the stop ears 34, riding in slots in the ledges 46, contact the rear edges of the slots S, whereupon the guide tracks and trays slide forwardly as a unit, as shown in Figure 7.

When a tray is moved rearwardly from its extended position, the wall engages the ears 34 and the tray and guide tracks are moved as a unit into the refrigerator l.

The trays are removed from the guide tracks when the rollers 56 are retracted as shown in Figure 5 and the tracks are removed from the guide rollers when the latch plates 38 are raised.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A cabinet structure comprising a pair of side walls, a plurality of guide rollers carried by each side wall, a pair of channel shaped guides slidably mounted on said rollers, said guides each ineluding a forward end and a rear end, an ear rising from the forward end of each guide, means at the rear end of each guide preventing removal of the guides from the guide rollers and adapted to engage certain of said rollers to limit sliding movement of said guides on said rollers, a drawer having a reduced lower portion received between said guides and side ledges abovesaid lower por-- tion overlying said guides, rollers carried by said ledgesand projecting through the ledges to rest upon the guides, said ledges having slots therein slidably receiving said ears, and means carried by the lower portion or" said drawer and extendable beneath the guides to lock the drawer on the guides and thereby prevent lifting of the drawer from the guides.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means at the rear ends of said guides includes a pair of swingable latches, and abutments on the rear ends of said guides against which said latches are adapted to ride.

MORRIS ROTHCHILD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 449,482 Levy Mar, 31, 1891 686,777 Shook Nov. 19, 1901 879,699 Starrett -1 Feb. 18, 1908 1,226,561 Mayne May 15, 1917 1,385,811 Bodenstein July 26, 1921 1,534,201 Blin Apr. 21, 1925 1,820,548 Walter Aug. 25, 1931 1,951,390 Barker Mar. 20, 1934 2,070,941 Dust Feb. 6, 1937 2,093,198 Sindelar Nov. 2, 1937 2,430,141 Reeves Nov. 4, 1947 2,430,197 Wells et al Nov. 4, 1947 

